Varadkar: ‘Black lives matter, but also black feelings matter too’
Taoiseach vows focus on racism in government
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said that the goal of the next government should be to root out racism in Irish society.
Speaking with Pat Kenny on Virgin Media One last night, he said that people of colour who are born in Ireland and live in Ireland are “not always treated as though they are as Irish as the rest of us”.
He was speaking in reference to a statement he made in the Dáil this week about riots across the US after the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by Minneapolis police, during which he said there is an “absence of moral leadership”.
While he did not specifically refer to Donald Trump in the statement, he conceded during last night’s interview that he was referring to the American president, although “not exclusively”.
“President Trump is the head of state and government,” he said, adding that “we were all shocked” about Floyd’s killing.
“I think there could have been a better response,” he said. “Even though we may not have police brutality in Ireland, we have a really professional excellent Garda service, we do have racism. We need to be wise of that too,” he said last night.
“A lot of young people, people of colour, growing up in Ireland and born here, who are not treated always as though they are as Irish as the rest of us, as Irish as you,” he said.
“And I was kind of speaking to them really in recognising that black lives matter, but also black feelings matter too.”
He said that he was “shocked” when he saw the video of a policeman kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he fell unconscious and later died.
“When we saw those scenes of a man losing his life in a situation he did, we were all shocked.”
“There could have been a better response from the President [Trump].”
He said that once a government is formed in the coming weeks, it should focus on targeting racism.
“I think among the things that the next government will want to do is focus on racism, on rooting it out, on campaigns against it.
“Make sure that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are better represented in the civil service, in the public service.
“You don’t see many black or brown judges, or in the Dáil, [where] I’m the only one, I think, at the moment. You don’t see many presenters on TV, for example,” he said.
“That needs to change, because we have the opportunity not to repeat the mistakes of countries like Britain and France and the US,” he added.
Asked if he would present a bowl of shamrock to the American president next St Patrick’s Day, if Mr Trump is re-elected, he said he would do so if he was still Taoiseach.
On the controversy after he was spotted with his friends in the Phoenix Park several weeks ago, he said he “hadn’t planned any optics on it”.
He said it was certainly not a staged photo opportunity, but rather an image that someone captured on their mobile phone camera while he was out with friends for the first time in months.
“I hadn’t seen any friends since March 8 at that stage,” he said.
Mr Varadkar also admitted that he’s looking forward to the hairdressers reopening.
“Believe you me, there’s nothing more I’d like to do this weekend than have a haircut and a proper pint,” he laughed.
He also said that government guidance on face coverings is “driven by the science”.
“We’re driven by the science. We don’t rule out making it mandatory [in shops and public transport].
“Masks have some value, but it’s limited,” he said, before adding that they are not a “magic shield”.
‘There could have been a better response from President Trump’